Sant claim on playground tender

The Nationalist-led Sliema council would have squandered Lm17,000 on a tender for a playground had it not been for the intervention of Labour councillors, Labour leader Alfred Sant claimed yesterday.

Dr Sant said the Infrastructure Ministry was prepared to pay Lm43,000 for the works even though they were estimated to cost just Lm26,000.

It was only on the insistence of Labour councillors that the contract was then awarded according to the original estimate, Dr Sant said.

He said there had also been a lack of accountability in the management of funds in Sliema and that peoples' needs were ignored.